Floor-box for electric-conductor terminals.



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Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

M 5 AMES & J H GOEHST FLOOR BOX FOR ELECTRIC CONDUCTOR TERMINALS.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 8, 190B:

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

MILLARD E. AMES AND JOHN H. GOEHST, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FLOOR-BOX non ELECTRIC-CONDUCTOR TERMINALS.

Application filed June 8, 1908.

To all who mat may concern:

Be it known that we, MILLARD E. AMES and JOHN H. GOEHST, citizens of the United States, and residents of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Floor-Boxes for Electric-Conductor Terminals; and we do hereby declare that the-following is a full, clear, and exac description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improved outlet box for electric conductors for use in oflice buildings, banks, residences and like places through which conductors are led from conduits in a floor of an apartment to an electric lamp, an electric fan, or other electric device located in the apartment.

The outlet box is designed more particularly as a floor box butma'y be employed to advantage where electric conductors are to be led from conduits in the ceiling or wall of an apartment.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide an outlet box of'this character, the cover bf which may be accurately fitted to the finished or final surface of the floor or of a wall in whichthe box is located, so as to avoid the necessity of accl'irately fitting the box bodyfin the ,floor or wall structure when first installed therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved construction'in a box of thischaracter whereby the box isre'adily accessible to permit the insertion or removal of the plug or the repair or removal of the parts of the socket or plug contained in the box. 1

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of an outlet box made in ac-- cordance with my invention, showin in dot ted lines a familiar form of socket aseand vation-of a screw-threaded plug for closing the opening in the cover of the box when the usual outlet cap is not in use.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

Serial No. 437,375.

As shown in the drawings, 10 designates the body of an integral metal outlet box which isclosed at its sides and bottom and is open at its top.

12 designates the cover thereof which is shown as attached to the box body by means of screw bolts 13, 13 which extend downwardly through openings in the cover and have screw-threaded engagement with lugs 14, 14: formed integral with and extending inwardly from the vertical wall of the box body. The heads of said bolts have countersunk engagement with the cover so as to lie flush with the outer face of the cover. The box body is provided with one or more openings 15, 15 through which electric conductors are carried to the box, where they are.

In some instances two conduits may enter the box through the o em'ngs 15, preferably from the op osite si es of the box body, whereby a p u'rality of conductors may be earned into the box, one or more of which may be carried directly through the box to other outlet boxes. y

717 designates a plug of any preferred form which is removably connected with the socket base 16 andextends through a central opening 18 of 'thecover partially beyond said cover. When this form of socket base and socket are employed, the cover is provided with "a hollow dutlet cap 20 which is uetachably fitted to the cover and incloses said plug, The said outlet cap-1s herein shownas provided with a reduced screw-' construction of modern fire-proof buildings 'a concrete filling is placed over the iron girders and the tile supported between the same, and on which the floor proper is laid, and the conductor conduits and the body of the outlet box are laid or embedded in such filling. It is practically impossible to locate the bodyof the-box so accurately at the time of its installation that the cover 12 of the box will be flush with the finished face of the floor or wall. Itwill be found in practice that a cover fitted to the box body with.-

out adjustment will almost invariably either cover to be accureately leveled with the floor and to be brought accurately flush with the surface of the floor, notwithstandin the fact that the body of the box, may be piiiced at too low or high a level in the floor structure or that it may not be properly leveled.

.1 The construction byiwhich these objections are overcome is made as follows: Interposed between the cover proper 12 and the body of thebox at the upper open side thereof is an adjusting ring'25. This ring 25 is provided with a flat upper surface 26 on which the cover 12 is supported. The upper marginal portion of the wall of the box is pro videdwith an annular outwardly and up- 1 wardly flaring rim 27, the upper face of which constitutes a seat on which is fitted the adjusting ring 25. The contact faces of the ring and seat are transversely curved on arcs of circles of the same radius, iving them the form of annular, spherica segments, whereby the said ring and the cover supported thereon are capable of universal adjustment with respect to the box body to enable the cover and ring to be tilted in any directiondesired so as to bring the upper or outer face of thejcover parallel with the outer face of the finished floor or other part/in which thebox is mounted. The said adjusting ring is' clamped in place between the flaring rim of the ox and the cover by the attaching bolts 13 which attaches the cover to the box.

In order that the cover may be'brought accurately to the level of the fini'shed floor a' filling ring or gasket "30 is iiiterposed between the' upperifa'ce 2'6 ofthe adjusting ring and sai'd'icover. Such filling ring will be made of ajthicknesslrequired to bring the top of the-cover 'tothe floor level. ormore than one ring may'be'used for that purpose.

' bolts 13.

Said filling ring 30 will ordinarily be made of some suitable yielding material, as a specially treated fiber, so that the ring or rings ma be slightly compressed under the' action 0 the attaching screw bolts 13 to provide a water-tight joint between the cover and the box body.

\Vhen fitting the box to the unfinished structure or foundation of a floqrvextreme care need not be exercised to level the box with respect to; the. final plane of the floor or to mount the box so that the cover when placed thereon will be accurately flush with the floor; care only 'beingtak en that the box he placed sufficiently below the final floor level so that the cover and adjusting ring when placed in position thereon will not bring the cover above the floor level. After the floor is laid. and finished'the ring or rings. 30 are placed between, the cover 12- and the adjusting ring 25 to bring the upper faceof the cover approximately flush with the upper face of the floor. If it be found that the upper face of the .cover is not-parallel with the plane of the'upper faceof the floor, the cover and adjustlng ring may be tilted slightly on the seat so as to bring said 'upper face of the cover accurately in the plane of the upper face of the floor. After the parts have been thusadjusted, the coverisfixed in place by tightening the screw- It will be manifest that the cover l2 and the adjusting ring 25 constitute, in effect, a two-part cover which is fastened in place by ,the screw-bolts 13 and is fitted to the box body so. that the cover, as a whole, may be twisted. or tilted slightly on its seat to bring the h per face of the cover accurately in the p ane of the upper face of the finished floor, and that the. making of the cover of two parts and providing the filling rings 30 to space the same enables the upper member ofv the cover to be adjusted vertically with I respecttothe lower member or ring 25 so as 'tobring said upper member flush with the finished floor. Thus it will be, observed that we have provided-a-universal adjustment of the cover with, respect to the box body which enables said cover tobe accurately fitted to the door or other-support re gardless of inaccuracies of fitting the box in the floor or other structure.

The socket base is herein shown as 'at-,

tached to the adjusting ring 25 of the cover, said adjustin extending apertured lugs'32 through w 'ich extend fastenbase in any suitable manner. a

Whe the box-"is n'tin 'use and the plug and socket base are removed therefrom, the opening in the cover 12inay be closed by a ring being for this purpose provided, wit inwardl ing bolts '33 that are attached to the socket from the' face of the floor or other which the box is mounted.

' on said rim of the body,

nular bearing surface,

screw-threaded plug 35 which is made of a size to fit substantially flush with the cover so as to present substantially no projection part in We claim as our invention 1. An outlet for electric conductors comprising a box body provided at its upper margin with an annular outwardly and upwardly flaring, integral rim having an inwardly and upwardly facing, concave, an-

nular bearing surface, a detachable cover for an ad usting ring interposed be-' said box, tween the cover and box body and provided with a downwardly and outwardly facing, annular, transversely curved bearing surface engaging the complemental bearing surface and means for securing the said ring and cover to the body.

2. An outlet for electric conductors comprising a box body provided at its upper margin with an annular outwardly and upwardly flaring, integral rim having an in: wardly and upwardly facing, concave, an-

a detachable cover for said box body, an adjusting ring'interposed between the cover and body and provided with a downwardly and outwardly facing, annular, transversely curved bearing surface engaging the complemental surface on the said'rim of the body, and a plurality of bolts engaged with the body at their lower ends through said threaded engagement with the box body.

through the medium of which said adjusting ring and cover are secured to the body.

3. An outlet for electric conductors comprising a boxbody, a cover therefor having an opening for the an adjusting ring interposed between the cover and body and provided with an annular transversely curved bearing surface engaging a complemental bearing surface on the box body, and screws extending cover and having screw- 4. An outlet for electric conductors comprising a box body 'provided at its open end with a flaring annular rim, a cover provided with, an opening for the passage of the conduct0r, an adjusting ring interposed between. the cover and rim, said adjusting ring being formed with a transversely curved surface adapted to seat against a complemental surface on the rim, and means for fastening the cover to the box body, arranged to clamp said ring against said rim.

' In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our invention we aifix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses, this 25th day of May A. D. 1908.

MILLARD E. AMES. JOHN H. GOEHST. Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. 1'IALL, GEORGE R. WILKINS.

assa e of a conductor 

